Question for midwives about if you end up birthing alone...

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

My current 'middle of the night panic' burning question is:

If you end up crowning before any midwives arrive (at home), either in or out of a birth pool, should you somehow be checking whether the cord is around the neck before pushing the rest of the baby out and if so, should you be doing anything about it?

hope this helps cord around the neck

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along.

Personally I would say not to bother. Its round the neck of about 1 in 3 babies but seldom causes a problem delivering. I would doubt you would even be able to feel it or do anything about it anyway as it actually feels just like another bit of skin or tissue and its all quite 'tight' down there when babies head is out.

If baby did come out with cord tight round the neck, just unwrap it and give baby a firm rub down to stimulate them to get respirations going.

If the cord is tight around the neck you can try to gently unloop it, but unless the cord is short it probably won't make a difference. About 30% of births involve a cord looped around the neck once - it doesn't usually cause any problems.

The main thing to remember is to keep the baby warm after birth. Most babies that need to be admitted to hospital after being born at home unexpectedly are admitted because they've become chilled.

You need two towels: one to dry the baby with (which also stimulates circulation) and a fresh dry one to cover the baby with to keep them warm. Put baby skin to skin on mum's chest (facing towards her - NOT in the stranded beetle position) and put a towel over them both.

Then wait for the ambulance!

Whoops! Cross posted with you Mintpurple!

Sorry - should have said 'most FULL TERM babies born at term at home'. Obviously if a baby has come very early it's a different issue.

Don't worry about the cord, unlikely to be a problem. Concerntrate on drying off the baby then keeping it warm.

Thank you everyone - it's so unlikely that I'd be all on my tod but you know what it's like once you've got a middle of the night question in your mind!

oh and my friend's cord had to be clamped and cut before baby was fully out as it was so tight round the neck....maybe it was that that got my mind wandering

I know someone who bave birth on her own. The baby had the cord around the neck, and the mother gently unlooped it before the rest of the baby was born.

and my baby was born with the cord twice around her neck, no problems at all.

My daughter was born at home with the cord double wrapped around her neck - the paramedic in attendance said 'oh... bollocks! GET THE PAED RESUSC KIT!!!!!' which was probably not the most reassuring thing to hear, but she was absolutely fine - if a community midwife had been available we wouldn't even have had to go into hospital!